Aida's Secrets

2016, Alon Schwarz and Shaul Schwarz, Canada, 96 min.

Show Times

Fri, Nov 10th 2:00pm

Sun, Nov 12th 3:00pm

Mon, Nov 13th 6:00pm

"A spellbinding film...It's a complex potpourri of drama, intrigue, secrets, lies and tearful reunions spanning seven decades, stretching from a refugee camp in the war-torn Europe of the 1940s to a nursing home in Quebec." — Martin Knelman, Toronto Star

"The remarkable tale it tells — of a family split up and dispersed to different continents, and the detective work required to figure out what had happened — turns this documentary into a fascinating mystery of reshuffled identities." — Daniel M. Gold, The New York Times

An attempt to reunite a family scattered by the Holocaust — and the mysteries created by that terrible time — lie at the heart of this haunting, powerful documentary. Born in the Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp in 1945 and given up for adoption in Israel, Izak Szewelwicz is stunned to learn that he has a brother living in Canada. After an emotional reunion in Winnipeg, Izak and his newfound sibling Shep (who is blind) set out to visit their mother Aida, who had never contacted Shep. But, even as closure is apparently being reached, new questions arise. Did the two brothers have the same father? Why did Aida reestablish contact with Izak, but not Shep? How did she survive during the war? Who is the other man seen in photographs with her? Why do the records ascribe three — not two — children to Aida? Some of the questions will be answered, but others seem destined to remain hidden behind the curtain of "I don't remember." In English and Hebrew with English subtitles. DCP digital. (MR)